


A Civilized Conversation

by Comicfan



Series: Fathers and Son [4]
Category: Red Hood and the Outlaws
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26133079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comicfan/pseuds/Comicfan
Summary: With news that two of the boys have been attacked Batman decided to meet with the man who had started it all.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd
Series: Fathers and Son [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878103
Comments: 14
Kudos: 76





	A Civilized Conversation

If Clark or the other Justice League members had known where he was going they never would have let him leave. In his current state Batman was livid, his muscles trembled with the overwhelming urge to punch a very egotistical man in his smug face. The League had helped unearth the evidence, Barry was assisting him with a series of test on what they had obtained, and he had invested everything else. Looking for motives and whatever details he could find about the project the prisoners had undergone. There hadn't been much left after the slaughter, paper trails had vanished without a trace. Well, _most_ of it had. Bruce had managed to snag a few documents before they had mysteriously disappeared years ago while investigating a rash of research thefts. He had never linked them to the slaughter at the prison before now. Back then it had just been missing lab work and interesting theories on what the mind was capable of.

No one had supposedly known exactly what had gone on in the prison without high clearance. No testing had been supposedly performed before then. Now Bruce could see a clear connection between the two.

Bunker had witnessed someone with mental powers and described the machines being used on him. The project had been more than a simple theory it was a proven fact. Something no one would now claim the credit for because of the lengthy list of dead attached to such a breakthrough. Of course it would have been hard for anyone to get bragging rights over a secret project based on stolen work anyway.

There was no finesse when Batman broke in, with practiced ease and brute force he made an entrance that left most of the witnesses speechless. It helped that the merger wasn't happening on _his_ home ground. There would have been better security if that had been the case. Gasps and a surprised yell escaped his audiences mouths when he broke through the glass ceiling onto the long table. Only the man on the far end didn't look impressed...though he didn't look as smug as usual either.

"Get out."

Bodies quickly scattered to the door, tripping over each other to get out of his reach. Someone called back to the still seated man at the end of the conference table to ask if he should call security. He told the man to leave them alone and raised an eyebrow once it was just the two of them.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Were the deaths at Hierve El Agua necessary, Lex?" Batman countered.

A flash of something passed over him before the standard Luthor confidence took over.

"Hierve El Agua?"

"Don't play coy, we both know you ordered the whole prisons' death for daring to use your research. You were thorough just not as thorough as you usually are." He waited for Lex to look unimpressed before adding, "CG119 mark 7 had the most promising results. Though I doubt even you considered it being used to fuse three men into one body. Assuming that Solitary was right of course."

Lex stapled his fingers together, he smiled faintly but his eyes had a dangerous edge to them. "Is this part where you threaten me, Bruce?"

"We're past that point, Lex." Batman growled. "You knew we were looking into Hierve El Agua and suddenly my family was attacked. That's not a coincidence."

"Yet you're here with me instead of with them. I'm honored." Suddenly a dark gloved hand yanked him up from his seat and onto his feet. His smile grew wider. "Did I touch a nerve?"

"I'm about to."

A nerve strike to Lex Luthor was more than a little tempting.

"I think we're both past the point of pretense then." Lex said releasing himself from the vigilante's grip, for now Batman allowed it. "We both know you can't prove anything and any device you have on you can't record any 'confession.' "

"There was a survivor--Solitary--and I'm certain you've been keeping tabs on him whenever he showed up on your radar. We're testing the bodies but I have a suspicion that we're not going to find Solitary among them."

"I'd imagine it would be hard to identify a man--excuse me--three men combined into one--using conventional DNA methods. Then again you likely only have a few eye witness reports on him at best." Striding to the bar to the side of the room Lex poured himself a drink. "Still I'm intrigued to hear what you've uncovered."

"Solitary fleed for his life but he was injuried." Despite his misgivings Bruce knew that Jason was skilled enough not to miss a shot when he was given an opening. Solitary could only survive by slightly changing Jason's perceptions in such an enclosed space. "Unfortunately for him the obsession he has for Jason meant he stayed close to him."

Over the years Solitary had become an expert at hiding but in his injuried state he had slipped up.

"Oh? Did your boy kill him?" Taking a long swig from his glass Lex dug into his pocket to pull out a holo-device. After a moment an image of Red Hood appeared as he bobbed and weaved through a fight before effortlessly taking down his foes. "He has a lot of potential and with a nudge in the right direction he could change the world."

It didn't surprise Bruce that Lex Luthor had surveillance on Jason. The man was obsessed with whatever he deemed his property (like Bizarro) and kept a close eye on anyone around his "belongings." (Which had meant Solitary would also catch his attention.) Apparently he had also attempted to bring Jason to his side by guilting him into accepting an offer to teach. It was still unsettling to see the proof brazenly shoved in his face as a flaunting point. Lex had the means to spy on Bruce's children, he could get to them any time he wanted to and he wanted to make sure Bruce understood that.

"He's why you're really here, as I understand it his father was transferred to that prison." He looked through Jason's still semi-transparent image to hold Batmans' gaze. "I'm curious why the sudden interest in Hierve El Agua after all this time."

"Meaning?"

"Now who's being coy?" Lex scoffed. "You expect me to believe you didn't look into his fathers' records?"

His expression abruptly became more calculating as if the final puzzle piece had finally slipped into place.

"Or maybe you just didn't want to look too closely back then, so long as he was out of your way. What changed?"

There were far too many questions that needed answering but Bruce refused to play Lex's game. It was entirely possible that Lex didn't know Willis Todd was alive, he might have have suspicions based on the coincidences but nothing was confirmed. There was no way Bruce was going to hand Willis over to such a man. He would be seen as something Lex Luthor believed belonged to him simply because his property had been used. A half truth would be more believable than an actual lie.

"Solitary thought he was Jason's father. Jason doesn't believe it but I wanted to conduct a DNA test. In the process we've uncovered a massacre. I'm sure he'd want it investigated, wouldn't you agree?"

"Actually I don't think Jason would agree." Lex commented darkly, his sharp grin said he knew a secret Batman wasn't privy to. "As for his father, well, no one likes loose ends. It would be a shame if I learned that more of my work had been misused."

"Like you said Lex, we're past the point of pretense. You attacked my family and think you can still make threats?"

"That is the way he tends to work." Superman commented from above, his gaze shifted to Lex. "You have a lot to answer for."

"And as usual you have no proof to back up your claims." Lex retorted. "Now I think we all have more pressing matters to attend to elsewhere."

"This isn't over!" Batman shouted as the bald man moved towards the door.

"It never is." Lex replied with a confident smile before taking his leave.

Once he left and Batman was halfway to the batwing Superman finally addressed him.

"Bruce, we need to talk." 

\----------

The manor was quiet as if everyone within it's walls feared uttering a word would bring down it collapsing down upon them. In the medbay Dick kept vigil of his brother, his right side of his face hidden under an ice pack as it started to swell. The mercenaries had been quick and brutal. The confined space had worked against them trapping Jason and him inside long enough to get overwhelmed by the small army.

Superman had arrived and forced half of the forces to flee while their allies were taken out. But the damage had already been done by then. Jason had saved Dick from getting stabbed in the heart by taking the hit himself. Luckily no vital organs had been hit but he had lost a lot of blood by the time Superman showed up. He had only barely made it to the cave in time. Tim had checked up on them every ten minutes, he pretended to be busy with other work but Dick saw through the act.

Dick and Tim both jumped when they heard the batwing approach.

The dark knight leapt out onto the runway as soon as he was able with the man of steel hot on his heels. He headed straight to the med bay ignoring all else, right then Bruce's focus was Jason.

"How long?"

It took Dick a few seconds to understand what he meant, luckily Tim picked up faster.

"He's been out for ten minutes."

"The bleeding?"

"Stopped. He's getting a blood transfusion now." Tim indicated just in case Bruce had overlooked that detail in his current state. A stranger would think Tim sounded calm but they could hear the telltale signs of worry.

The blood loss had been pretty bad, Jason was breathing rapidly, his skin was pale and sweaty. Those signs were serious, and sure enough Bruce asked several follow up questions to make sure they were following the correct procedures. With the volume of blood Jason lost it would be hard to correct his condition with a transfusion. Fortunately the bleeding was now controlled and thankfully they had managed to properly treat him. Even with their training Dick and Tim had been near panicking. Clark had helped bring them to the cave but the patching up had been on them. Somehow Tim had managed to sew Jason back up with tiny neat stitches despite his shaking shaky.

"If you want to help Clark find away to put Lex Luthor behind bars." Bruce snapped when Clark hovered too close.

"We'll work on that but is there anything your boys need?"

Something was grunted back that Dick couldn't hear, the only thing he could make out was Clark promising to do what was asked. The family held a vigil after He left, sitting near Jason and constantly checking his condition. Throughout the night more family and Justice League members turned up. What ever they had said or done had been mostly lost on Dick while he nursed a concussion.

When Jason finally woke he was disoriented and still felt too tired to keep his eyes open for long. It was hard to see him like that, weak and so helpless looking. One of the usual symptoms of blood loss was anxiety but given everything that had happened Jason probably wouldn't be any more collected if he hadn't been injured.

At some point in the night Dick overheard Bruce speaking to Jason in a hushed tone. It was an obvious struggle for Jason to keep his eyes open but he managed it by sheer willpower.

"--made it clear that he's a threat to Willis. Clark and the League are monitoring him now but that doesn't mean he won't go after him."

If not for the defiant, almost fearful expression on Jason's face Dick would have thought his adopted brother had fallen asleep. He had become far too quiet for far too long.

"Jason?"

"I hear you." His body shivered even as Bruce adjusted the slipping blanket around him. "I can barely concentrate on this conversation Bruce, I might even forget it in the morning. I know he's got a target on his back but I also know he's evaded some dangerous people for years. Maybe keeping Intel on him from you is a bad choice right now. But so is making a decision while I'm like this."

The budding argument died as Jason's fatigue grew worse and he was allowed to sleep again. When daylight broke the family went over menu ideas for Jason as a means to help him recover. That was usually Alfred's job and Dick wasn't even certain if any of them measured up in the cooking department. Bruce was by far the worst cook, so much so that he had previously been banned from even making another attempt at making a meal.

Things weren't perfect but for awhile they were okay. It almost felt like they could be a family unit again, maybe even better than before. But like always that would require Jason and Bruce actually talking about their issues.

In a few days Jason had recovered enough to sneak out, as a result the family went into high alert. 

"It's really going to hit the fan now." Tim commented. He was out on patrol while Dick had monitor duty.

"Because of Luthor or Bruce?" Dick asked. The former would undoubtedly make life difficult for them all and the latter tended to put his foot in his mouth.

"I see Jason eating in a supposedly closed restaurant and he has a guest."

"Is it Bruce?"

"I can't tell. I don't have audio or a visual of him."

"Oh." This wasn't going to end well.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been following Lex Luthor enough lately to be sure if he still knows the bat family's IDs but given his spying on Jason I think it's still canon.


End file.
